Packrafting the Picton River at a Low 0.2m
Gabby and I had planned to go packrafting on Saturday the 16th of March 2024 and had pre-booked some accommodation at Tahune thinking that the Picton River would be a good trip. Unfortunately, as the weekend approached, the water levels were low here and elsewhere in southern Tasmania. The WikiRiver guide for the Picton suggests a minimum river level of 0.6m at Tahune. I’d previously done a short section of the Picton at 0.3m, which was doable but definitely low, but as the weekend approached the level was only 0.2 and then dropped the day before to 0.17!
Having booked accommodation, we decided to head down anyway. We’d give the river a look, and if it was no good, just explore the Tahune Airwalk. Knowing the level was low, we went to the Riveaux Road Bridge, thinking if there were to be lots of portages, the shorter 4km section would be the go, arriving there just after lunch, with the river having risen back to 0.2m.
The Stats
Entry/Exit: Riveaux Road Bridge to Tahune Bridge (on the Huon)
Water level: 0.2 at Tahune Bridge
Grade: 2-3 (although 1-2 at this level)
Distance: 4km
Time: 1 hour
Location
The section of the Picton we paddled is about 90km south of Hobart, which takes about 1½ hours in the car. Travel towards the Tahune Airwalk, through Geeveston, turning off onto East Picton Road, just before reaching the Airwalk. At the junction with Riveaux Road, take the right fork onto it, and the bridge over the river is only another 500m.
We dropped the rafts here and I then drove back to the Airwalk, where we’d finish, to park the car. I then rode my push bike back to the start to meet up with Gabby, which only took 8 minutes to ride the 2.73km along the road.
Entry Point
The entry point to the river at the Riveaux Road Bridge is on the right-hand-side, as you approach the bridge (northwest corner of the bridge), where there are some cemented rocks making a staircase down to the water.
The River
Even at this very low level we were able to paddle the full section of the river without any portages, although there were numerous spots where the boats scraped as we made our way through. The video below gives an indication of the character at this level, which still included one fun little rapid that we ended up doing about three times!
Exit Point
A short distance after the Picton joins the Huon River, you will see Tahune Bridge ahead. The exit point here is on river right, above the bridge. After exiting the river, we walked up the wide track to the road that goes to the bridge. From here we continued along the road, bypassing the Airwalk cafe, and passed the boats over the gate just prior to the carpark.
